Investors Shouldn't Wait for Ocado to Deliver

Investors tend to be lenient with Internet all-stars like Amazon.com when it comes to profitability. In the case of online grocer Ocado Group, such tolerance is unlikely to pay off.

Shares of U.K.-based Ocado have soared in the past several months on hopes that the money-losing company will soon sell its technology to grocers overseas. Ocado trades at 3.2 times consensus sales in the year through November, well above Amazon's multiple...